


As It Ends So It Begins

by spinner_atropos



Category: Extreme Ghostbusters (Cartoon), The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 10:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3443834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinner_atropos/pseuds/spinner_atropos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Very rough, almost stream-of-consciousness; the transition in my head between Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.</p>
    </blockquote>





	As It Ends So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Very rough, almost stream-of-consciousness; the transition in my head between Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.

She'd been spiriting her personal possessions home for weeks--the little tchotchkes first, the plants last, as she wasn't about to leave them to an uncertain fate. She didn't know at what point the guys noticed; no one ever said anything. Maybe because it was inevitable, or maybe because they were too caught up in their own strife.

She had enough involvement in the financials to know when her paycheck was likely to be the last one she could count on. Peter had tossed it casually into her in basket as he'd passed earlier in the day.

They were out on what they'd dubbed a recon mission--cruising the city searching for any fluctuation in the ever-dropping PKE levels. They'd left late after another knock-down drag-out argument, and obviously weren't going to be back before five. It was as convenient as if it had been planned.

Her few remaining personal things went in her bag. Her resignation letter went on Peter's desk along with her keys. She locked up, turned out the lights, and slipped out the back door. Just in case, this check was cashed rather than deposited. She spent the ride home in tears.

It was like she'd been through a death in the family or a particularly bad breakup; over the next few weeks she burst into tears at the drop of a hat, trying the patience of her friends and family. Rachel was the most understanding; their mother, not so much. "You see what this leaves you? Single _and_ unemployed! This time you need to get a normal job, with normal people."

She also started crying during her first few job interviews. Thank goodness for temp agencies with low standards.

About two months after she'd walked out, before she'd managed to find another permanent job, a check arrived in the mail. It was a little over a month's pay and had only "severance" on the memo line in Peter's hand. The conflicting emotions it brought to the surface made her cry some more.

Eventually she stopped crying and got a real job, this one as the office manager of a modest yet respectable brokerage. After some pushing she even went on a few half-hearted dates with parents' friends' sons, arranged by her mother presumably to rectify the "unmarried" part of her shortcomings, or possibly to bring her out of her lingering funk. It failed on both fronts.

She tracked Winston down the next Christmas. He'd left not too long after she had, being less integral to everything than the others and possessed of some practical, marketable job skills. The inside stories he told her made her really, truly hate Peter for the first time.

She contacted Ray maybe six months later. He'd moved back to Morristown and was still somewhat involved in the paranormal, at least academically, but didn't have a whole lot to say about the past. The noticeable lack of his old enthusiasm and energy broke her heart all over again.

Six years and nine jobs later, the planets aligned. Frustrated by her most recent layoff, she finally took Rachel's suggestion of continuing education and picked up a coursebook for New York City College, and there it was, in black and white: Paranormal Phenomena 101, E. Spengler.

She stared at the name for a long time, her heart lurching uncomfortably. She'd never tried looking him up after the dissolution, afraid it would bring back too much pain and too many memories. Besides, as there hadn't been an unnatural explosion from the direction of Tribeca, there was only one logical place for him to be.

She didn't register so it wouldn't be official (and she wouldn't show up on any rosters) and she could pretend it had only been a whim if something went wrong. She wrote down the info for a couple of other, more practical courses as cover.

The campus had more students her age than she'd expected--guess the layoff thing was really catching on. She found the building, then the room. Her heart was doing that thing again as she stood at a far door of the auditorium, palm resting on the cool metal of the push plate. He'd changed his hair and his glasses and put on a little weight, but it was still Egon. Mixed memories crashed over her head like ocean waves and she thought briefly that she might be sick. She considered leaving and pretending she'd never been there. 

_If you wimp out now you'll never forgive yourself,_ she told herself. _You used to be tougher than this, Melnitz._ She shoved aside her anxiety as she opened the door and walked down the ramp. "Excuse me, Professor, am I late?..."


End file.
